Rotary cutters are used for cutting fabric in quilt making and hobby sewing, among other uses. Such rotary cutters come in many different designs, each of which includes a handle portion and a “wheel blade” or rotary cutting blade, which is essentially a circular razor blade mounted on axle. The various designs for rotary cutters include differing handle shapes, for ease of use or user preference, with a rotary cutting blade rotatably mounted near one end. Various designs include differing blade guard features which are intended to reduce the potential for injury to a user.
Rotary cutters are typically used with a ruler that is laid on the fabric with the edge of the ruler used to guide the path of the blade during cutting by holding the edge of the blade against the side of the ruler. However, if either the ruler slips on the surface of the fabric during cutting or the cutter wanders from the ruler edge, a user can be injured by the rotary blade. Accordingly, some known rulers have guards that separate the cutting edge of the ruler from the typical placement of a users hand. There are also known rulers that have structures, such as barbs, for attaching to the fabric in order to reduce slipping. While these types of rulers have been able to reduce injuries ruler slippage, the issue of mis-cutting the fabric when the blade wandering away from the ruler remains unresolved.
Accordingly there exists a need for assemblies and devices that address these problems. A system or assembly that allowed for a rotary cutter to be used with a ruler and reduced the tendency for the rotary cutter to wander onto or away from the edge of a ruler during guided cutting would be an improvement in the art.